Obligatory Veela Fic
by jadewtch
Summary: Here is my veela fic since all hp/dm authors must write one as a rite of passage. ; I did my best to make it original. Draco doesn’t know he’s a veela! Angry Ron! Harry/Draco Slash
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Obligatory Veela Fic

**Summary: **Here is my obligatory veela fic since all hp/dm authors must write one as a rite of passage. ;) Draco doesn't know he's a veela! Angry Ron! Harry/Draco Slash

**Disclaimer: **All these lovely characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I just use them for my evil purposes.

* * *

It had been a long summer for Draco Malfoy. His father had come back from his stay in Azkaban in an especially; bad mood. He stormed around the manor swearing vengeance on that miserable Potter brat and his friends. When he wasn't busy doing that he was yelling at Draco for his poor performance in school His owls had come the day before and Draco was still hiding in his room.

He looked up from his potions homework when he heard the pop of a house elf appearing in his room.

"What is it, Bippy?" he asked.

The house elf shifted nervously. "Master Lucius told Bippy to tell Master Draco to come down to his study."

Draco stood, closing his potions text silently. "Thank you Bippy. You can tell my father that I'll be right down."

Draco walked into the study cautiously. His father sat at his desk and he didn't look happy.

"Look at these grades," he said. "Did you even try?" Lucius slapped Draco across the face hard, but he managed to stay upright. "You couldn't do better than that mudblood, and then you spent the whole morning hiding in your room when you knew I'd want to talk to you about your OWL's" He slapped his son once more this time across the other cheek. Unable to stay upright, Draco was flung to the side, knocking over a table in the corner. The delicate vase on it crashed to the floor and shattered.

"Now look what you've done," said Lucius. "That vase has been in our family for generations."

Draco was lifting himself off the wood floor when his father hit him with Crucio. Falling back down, he screamed and writhed on the floor. Splinters of the shattered vase dug themselves into his cheek and shoulder as he ground himself against them.

He woke to find himself back in his own bed. Someone had brought him back upstairs and taken care of his face and shoulder. He was wearing his favorite green silk pajama bottoms, and the shirt was draped over the dresser.

He was debating the wisdom of spending the remaining two weeks in his bedroom when his mother walked in.

"Mother," he smiled. "Did you bring me up here?"

"Yes." She sat down beside him and tucked him in. Draco reached up and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"I hope you're feeling better, Draco. I'm sorry about your father. He's never been all that understanding, but it's worse since Azkaban. There's nothing I can do. He doesn't listen to me, as you well know."

"It's ok Mother. I understand." And he did understand. His mother was nothing more than a trophy that hung off his father's arm at fancy pureblood diners. She was the impeccable hostess and delicate conversationalist whose job was to please guests who visited the Manor.

"Well, you'll be back at school soon and you won't have to worry about it," Narcissa said with a smile at her beloved son.

"I'm worried about you," said Draco with concern. His mother would be here all alone once he left, and she was right. His father was getting worse. "You shouldn't be here all alone."

"Don't worry about me sweetheart. I'll go visit one of our villa's in France, and your father won't think twice about it. Now get some rest. I'm looking forward to the Christmas holidays already."

The first day of school was as busy as ever. Draco got his things set up in his room, and pinned his prefect badge to his uniform. That night he walked around the dungeon corridors looking for people that were out after curfew. He loved the idea that he could get Potter in a lot of trouble. He had memorized the rulebook as soon as it arrived with his badge, and he was ready and willing to use every one of those rules against the Boy Wonder. With the amount of trouble Potter could get into on his own Draco was sure he'd be giving him reasons to take points left and right. With an evil smile he opened the door to his room.

The next morning Draco woke up feeling a bit strange, but he couldn't figure out why. He felt fine physically. Deciding that it must be something going on in his head he dismissed it and went to breakfast.

Looking up as he raised a forkful of scrambled eggs to his mouth he saw Potter talking with his friends. Unable to tear his eyes away from the boy, he stared at him until Blaise elbowed him in the ribs.

"What's going on Draco? You were staring at potter like he was dessert."

"Nothing's going on Blaise. I was just trying to think of ways to get him in trouble this year." He explained the ideas he had thought about the night before.

"Granger's a prefect too, Dray. You know she won't let you get away with taking points for any little thing."

"Yeah, but she's a Gryffindork. She won't take advantage of the rulebook like we plan to."

The next day Draco was walking to class when he crashed into someone coming from the other direction. Draco grabbed the other person to keep himself from falling and ended up looking into the emerald eyes of none other than Harry Potter. His fingers tingled at the touch like sparks of energy flowing through his skin. He noticed that the same feeling was twisting through his stomach, and to his horror it was working its way down to his groin. Before he could register the fact that he was partially hard, he released the boy, and stepped back so quickly that he nearly fell again.

"Can't you manage to walk and look at the same time, Potter?" he snarled. "Five points from Gryffindor for carelessness."

"Shove off Malfoy," said Harry. "YOU walked into ME remember?"

Draco felt his body tingle once more as the dark haired boy brushed past him. He blanched when he realized he had turned to stare at Potter's ass when he walked away.

Dinner was miserable since he couldn't seem to keep his eyes off the dark haired Gryffindor at the table across from him. It was even worse since their meeting in the hall, and Draco was very confused. It was so bad that even Crabbe and Goyle had noticed. He tried to come up with a good excuse that would explain it, but everyone could tell he was reaching.

Their third day back wasn't much better than the first two. Draco sat on the opposite side of the Slytherin table that morning to remove temptation. Then he cringed when he realized that he had just thought that Potter could be tempting.

This was the Gryffindor Golden Boy he was thinking about so disturbingly. Potter had made this summer more horrible than most. He was the bane of his existence. Draco's fondest wish would be to take his wand and…no not that! He thought as his mind started to wander in an unwanted direction. Ok, thought Draco, I'll grab my sword and shove it…Argh! I wonder if Pomfrey will do an Obliviate, he wondered. In the end Draco decided not to think about murdering Potter, or anything else to do with him for that matter.

The Slytherins walked toward the potions classroom when Pansy came up and leaned on Draco's shoulder in the way she normally did.

"What's up Dray?" she said as she bounced over.

Draco came to a sudden stop in the hallway and gave out a choked yell. He pulled himself jerkily away from the cheerful girl. His shoulder and back felt like it was on fire when she touched him.

Pansy was looking at him concerned. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said. "When you leaned on me it felt like my skin was burning, and I had this feeling that I needed to pull away from you."

"You should go see Madame Pomfrey about this," said Blaise, and he lay an arm on Draco's other shoulder comfortingly. This made him yell again, although not as loudly since he was getting used to the pain.

"Shit!" swore Blaise. "I'm sorry. I guess you can't be touched by anyone."

Pansy reached out with one finger, and poked him.

Draco flinched, and glared at the pug faced girl. Shoving her back he said, "I'm not your little toy, Pans." It wasn't until later that he realized touching her hadn't hurt at all.

During potions class, Draco found himself staring at the back of Potter's head in the same with the same absorption he had during meals. Turning his chair so it was facing the cauldron from the other side, he repeated in his head. 'I will not think of Potter. I will not think about Potter. I will not…" It was in the middle of his tenth repetition when he realized that he had put the knotgrass root in before the cockatrice feather, and his cauldron melted.

Looking at him with a glare that was usually reserved for Longbottom, Snape cleared away the mess with a wave of his wand.

Draco spent the remainder of the day hidden up in his room with a pillow over his face. He didn't understand what was happening. What was this new attraction to Potter? Because that was what had happened, Draco admitted. No matter how disgusting and horrifying he thought it was, it was the truth. No one else could find out, he swore. If his schoolmates didn't kill him, his father would when he found out.

The next day his skin still burned when anyone touched it. It didn't matter who it was he discovered, when a first year Hufflepuff accidentally crashed into him in the corridor. He had barely managed to keep from screaming, and jumping back. Instead, Draco grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him away so quickly the poor boy probably didn't know what had hit him. As soon as he was steady Draco hurried on down the corridor, trying not to let the pain show through his Malfoy mask.

Taking a side trip to visit Madam Pomfrey had been useless. She had tried a dozen different tests on him, all of them thankfully didn't need her to touch him, but she couldn't find anything physically wrong. Giving him a few pain potions she sent him on his way, letting him know to get in touch with her if it kept up.

Doesn't that old fool hire any competent staff, he grumbled as he made his way back to the dorms. Clearly there was a problem. It wasn't his fault that she wasn't intelligent enough to figure it out.

As far as the Potter Problem, as he had started to think of it, was concerned he made sure to take every back route he could think of to get to his classes. Not only did it mean there weren't many people there, but it also lessened the chance of having to see the Boy Wonder.

In class he made sure to sit as far away from him as possible, preferably facing the opposite direction if he could manage it. Even so he could tell exactly where the boy was in the room, and it was very distracting.

Blaise had started nagging him about pranks they could pull on the Gryffindors, but Draco kept putting it off. If this kept up the people in his house would realize there was a problem. They didn't understand why his main goal seemed to be stay far, far, away from Potter. He didn't want to be anywhere close to those gorgeous emerald eyes, those amazing lips that he wanted to kiss so badly… covering his eyes with one hand he stopped that train of thought right there, and began with his usual refrain of 'Don't think of Potter'.

Thankfully it was almost Christmas Vacation, he thought. The school year so far, had been one painful experience after another, and he couldn't wait to see his mother, and relax.

Not so surprisingly even the Gryffindors had noticed Malfoy's strange behavior.

"Have you noticed how Malfoy seems to be acting really strange," Hermione asked when the three of them were sitting in the library.

"Strange how?" asked Harry.

"Well, he's never around. It's almost like he's avoiding the whole school. We never see him, except for meals, and even then he doesn't show up for them all. I overheard some of his friends talking, and they said that no one can touch him. It hurts unbearably when they do, and no one can figure out why. Not even Madam Pomfrey."

"So? That's all good right?" asked Ron who would have happily seen Malfoy dead. "We should go around trying to touch him all the time."

"I thought it was my imagination, but now that you mention it, he seems to be avoiding me. Have you noticed? He's always facing away from me during meals, and he does his best to face away from me during classes as well," said Harry.

"Maybe he's ignoring us all," Ron said cheerfully. "Let's hope it keeps up."

"It's not all of us, Ron. I have Arithmancy with him and he takes the time to call me names like he always has."

"Harry, why don't you walk into him during class tomorrow? If Mione's right, it'll hurt like hell, plus he'll be stuck dealing with you."

Harry was shaking his head. No matter how much he hated Malfoy something like that was just cruel. He wasn't going to walk into a situation intending to cause someone a whole lot of pain, no matter who it was.

"Ron Weasley, how can you even think of doing such a thing? You don't know if something is seriously wrong, or what kind of damage you might be doing. I can't believe you'd be so mean."

"But Mione, its _Malfoy_!"

"Ron…" said Harry warningly, and that was the end of the matter for the evening.

Ron still thought it was a brilliant plan, and worked on a way to make it happen. Revenge is sweet, he thought with a determined glint in his eye. That bastard will never call my family names again.

It was one week away from Christmas break when it happened. Everyone was going up to McGonagall's desk during transfiguration to pick up a mouse that needed to be changed into a pigeon. Draco walked up as he usually did looking at his feet, and doing his best to avoid any eye contact with Harry, when Ron shoved him harshly from behind. Before he could fully register the burning pain ripping through his back, he realized that he had fallen into the arms of Harry Potter.

Harry looked into the silver eyes of his enemy, and they looked completely terrified. He remembered what Hermione had said, and, and pulled away quickly.

"I didn't hurt you did I?" he asked just in case.

Draco shook his head, realizing that it was true. It hadn't hurt him at all, actually it had felt wonderful. He resisted the temptation to throw himself back into Harry's arms. He felt the same sensation as before, and it set his senses tingling, and his magic flaring out toward Harry's.

As soon as Draco had righted himself and moved to walk away, Ron shoved him forward once more sending him flying right back into Harry's arms.

"Ron!" said Harry angrily, glaring at him. Malfoy could have been really hurt by this stunt, since they had no idea what was medically wrong with him.

"Ronald Weasley, twenty points from Gryffindor, and a week of detention. You can think about your shameful behavior when you're helping Filch clean the toilets in the boys changing room," said McGonagall angrily.

Hermione was glaring at him even more angrily than Harry had, if that was possible.

Harry realized that he was still holding Malfoy. The blonde had nearly fallen onto the floor, and he had grabbed him tightly and pulled him up against him for balance. Having him that close, Harry noticed that there was something very…excited… pressing against his hip, and he blushed brightly. Emotion ran through Draco's eyes like water on the surface of a lake, as they changed between panic, and lust. He could feel Malfoy's magic in the air reaching for him, and surprisingly, he felt his own magic start to respond. For one second he wanted to lean over and kiss the blonde. Coming back to himself he gasped, and pushed the other boy away in horror. How could he have wanted to do that, he wondered? He didn't really have a preference between boys or girls, but this was _Malfoy_.

Draco could feel his heart pounding its way out of his chest. The stupid Weasel had pushed him against Potter twice. He would have hexed that stupid redheaded git to next Tuesday if he wasn't feeling so euphoric. Potter's full pink lips had been only inches from his own, and it had taken every bit of his willpower not to kiss him. The second time he had been shoved forward he ended up pressed against Harry from head to toe. His magic had rushed out, wanting to blend with Harry's. He had never heard of something like that happening to a wizard before, and he made a note to do some research on it. Oh God! He realized that Potter must have noticed his…excitement. He blushed bright red, and ran for the door.

Harry watched him go, hoping that he was alright.

Lying on his bed in the dorm Draco found that his 'problem' wouldn't go away. Unzipping his trousers he slid them down past his hips along with his boxers, and ran his fingers up his length. Grasping it firmly he brushed a finger over the top, spreading his precum over the head. Pulling up with a practiced twist, he moaned with pleasure. Unable to stop himself, images of Harry began to flood his mind.

_Harry was kneeling…a tongue sliding up his cock, while he fisted his hands in dark hair…wet suction…_

Draco threw his head back and moaned, creating more friction with his hand.

_…a warm wet mouth slid up and down his hardness… _

His hips bucked upward into his hand desperately.

_…a finger slid into him gently brushing his prostate…_

With one last groan of pleasure he shouted Harry's name and wet warm come flooded out of him coating his hand.

Draco lay panting on his bed. He slid his pants back on after using a cleaning charm for the mess. He didn't understand what was happening, but there was no denying his feelings any longer. Weasel had been a miserable bastard as always today, but Harry had almost looked…concerned. Maybe he could initiate some sort of friendship with the Gryffindor, and figure out what had been happening to him this year.

Up in the Gryffindor dorms, Hermione was giving Ron hell. Harry was somewhat surprised she hadn't hexed him yet.

Once she wound down enough to let Ron talk he had turned to him and asked, "Harry, you're with me on this right? Malfoy deserves it after everything he's done to us all these years. If Mione was right it must have hurt like hell when he fell against you like that." Ron was snickering lightly.

Touching him hadn't hurt Malfoy one bit, Harry thought, remembering that Malfoy had said he was fine.

He looked up at his best friend. "Ron, Mione is right. You were a right bastard today, and you deserve every detention you got. You should have gotten more, but I bet McGonagall doesn't know Malfoy's been having problems."

Harry went up to bed, leaving Ron sitting in the common room fuming, and feeling betrayed. Ron couldn't believe he had just heard his best mate defend a Malfoy, and then his girlfriend had agreed with him! Hermione started up on him again as soon as they were alone, but he tuned her out, not one bit sorry for what he had done. As a matter of fact Malfoy deserves worse, the slimy git; he thought and started thinking of other things he could do to the blonde.

**To be continued…**

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**Loved it? Hated it? Please Review!**

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	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Obligatory Veela Fic

**Summary: **Here is my obligatory veela fic since all hp/dm authors must write one as a rite of passage. ;) Draco doesn't know he's a veela! Angry Ron! Semi-OOTP compliant Harry/Draco Slash

**Disclaimer: **All these lovely characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I just use them for my evil purposes.

Harry didn't really understand why he was defending Malfoy so zealously, but he remembered the terror in those silver eyes when he had first caught him, and the way his magic seemed to be reaching for Harry like a lifeline. Harry knew he'd never be able to hurt the boy again. I'm sure Malfoy will be back to his usual insulting self before long, Harry thought as he fell asleep.

Unless they were in the same class Draco made sure to avoid Harry whenever possible. Before long he was headed home for break. Dressed in some of his finest robes he was sitting at a fancy dinner to celebrate his first night back.

"So how has school been so far Draco?" his mother asked with a smile.

He looked at his father nervously, but decided to mention his problems in case it was some sort of dark spell causing it. His father was an expert there, he thought.

"Well, some weird things have been happening to me," he said cautiously. "I thought I might take a look in the library for some clues."

His mother looked concerned and motioned for him to continue.

"The worst thing seems to be that no one can touch me," he said hoping to leave Potter out of the conversation completely if he could. "It burns my skin until I have to get away."

He saw his mother looking at him somewhat sadly. Did she know what was happening, he wondered.

"You've inher…" she started to say when his father reached across the table and slapped her across the face cutting off anything else she was about to say. The glare he sent stopped her from saying anything else.

Draco flinched, and wanted to run over to help her, but was afraid that it might make things worse. Staying seated, and behaving like he was taught, his father actually looked somewhat proud of him. He felt like a bastard.

Walking up to his room he slipped off the fancy robes, and went to take a shower. When he came out he was dressed in some nice black silk pajamas. They were much nicer against his skin than those robes which were far too warm, and made him sweat.

Slipping back downstairs quietly for a cup of hot cocoa before bed he heard his parents having an argument. That in itself was rare since his mother usually gave in to whatever his father wanted. He could only hear part of it through the closed doors, but didn't want to get any closer in case he someone saw him.

…can't stop me from telling him…

That was his mother, he thought. What did she want to tell him? Was it what she was going to say tonight?

…don't want it mentioned again…

That was his father. They were definitely talking about dinner, he decided.

…filthy Black bloodlines…

What was wrong with mother's bloodlines? She was from an old pureblood family. Draco felt even more confused.

…your parents arranged…bastard…shouldn't have agreed…

…family…centuries of pureblood wizards…worthless heir…filthy…

That was when Draco decided that he had heard enough and made his way back upstairs. His father's words had hurt, but it really wasn't as much of a surprise as he had thought it would be. His father always made him feel worthless despite any problems his blood might carry.

He woke the next morning to find his mother in the chair by his bed.

"What's wrong?" he asked right away, worried that something bad might have happened last night.

"Nothing's wrong dear. I was just enjoying watching you sleep. I don't get to do it very often now that you've grown. I wanted to make sure that you knew I'd be proud of you no matter what you do."

"I don't understand." Draco was confused, and even more concerned by his mother's words.

"Don't worry about it sweetheart." She patted his arm gently. "I'd suggest doing your potions homework first." With that she swept out of the room with a smile.

Draco went to his desk after breakfast and picked up his potions manual as his mother had suggested. As he was flipping through the pages a slim book fell out. It was covered in worn dark leather, and 'Veela Heritage' was written on the front in gold letters. Opening it to the first page, he began to read…

_Veelas have the power of attraction in the wizarding world. When they enter a room, heads begin to turn to watch these beautiful creatures. They had many men and women enamored of them. Many had mixed blood children with the witch or wizard of their choice, and their children had a tendency to receive the powers that came with being a veela. _

Draco skimmed down past the next few paragraph when a heading caught his eye. His jaw dropped in shock as he realized what the information in the book meant as far as he was concerned. His mother must have secretly placed the book in his potions text. This was what the whole argument last night had been about.

_Some half-blood veelas will inherit the desire to take a mate. This will happen when their body is ready and their magic finds someone whose magic matches theirs. A note of caution, looking for a different partner is unlikely to work, and will only cause more pain for the veela. Ignoring the situation will create the same symptoms. _

_Once a mate has been found the veela's magic will attempt to combine with the other person's. Until this is accomplished, touching anyone but their mate will cause a burning sensation that is quite painful. This will only increase as time continues. A veela will be able to sense their mate from some distance, which is helpful in finding them when they come into heat. _

_Being rejected by their mate is something that happens very rarely. Both people will feel their magics want to combine making them more amiable to each other. In most cases, veela that have been rejected died once their chosen mate had taken another. _

The book slipped from Draco's loose fingers, and hit the floor with a thump. Harry Potter was his mate? Without a shadow of a doubt he knew it to be true. His father would kill him, and then he would kill Harry. He was surprised by the slight flare of magic in him when he thought of his mate being injured. Draco put his face down into his hands. His father was a lost cause. The man thought he was worthless, and didn't deserve any loyalty. The thought of joining the light didn't even give him pause, but he knew that after their horrible past Harry would never accept him. For the first time since he was a small child Draco began to sob.

His mother came in before lunch, and saw him sitting on the edge of the bed with red rimmed eyes.

Sitting down beside him, she placed one hand on his knee. "Did you finish your potions homework?" she asked.

Draco knew his mother wasn't talking about potions. Talking about the book out loud wasn't a smart thing to do. His father was so against the subject he was even willing to slap his mother in public. "I did," he said cautiously. "But I had some problems with the essay. Did you have any troubles with potions when you were in school?"

Narcissa understood what her son was asking. He was asking if her nature made her want to look for a mate as well.

"I had a fairly easy time with potions. Everyone in the class liked me, so I had a lot of help."

Draco nodded. She had received the veela attraction, but not the necessity for a mate.

"What about Aunt Bella?" he asked. Since they were talking about it, he wanted to know about the whole family. Bellatrix was not quite sane, and he wondered if this had anything to do with it.

His mother paused. In a low voice she said, "Your Aunt had the same problems with that potion essay as you do, but she ripped up her essay."

Draco gasped. She had killed her mate? Was he about to leave her for someone else? Even so, no veela could willingly harm their mate, or so he had thought. No wonder the woman was a bit cracked.

He was looking for a subtle way to ask how she had ended up with Rodolphus when a house elf popped into the room.

"Lunch is in the dining room when Master and Mistress are ready," the elf squeaked.

His mother nodded. "Thank you Norry." Turning to her son she said, "Your father will be expecting us for lunch, especially since you missed breakfast. Let me fix your eyes so you don't look like you've been crying and we'll head down."

With a couple flicks of her wand, Draco was back to normal. The two of them headed downstairs looking as if it was business as usual in the Manor.

Later that evening Draco was actually doing his homework when his mother walked in.

"Draco," she asked softly. "Do you know who you're supposed to hand in your potions homework to?"

Draco nodded silently, and drew a lightning bolt on his half finished charms essay. He heard his mother gasp behind him, and steeled himself for her disappointment.

What he didn't expect is a kiss on the cheek as she said, "I'm sure you'll do a great job. After all, you're my son, and I love you."

"I love you too, mother."

Draco went back to school wondering what he was going to do about Harry. If the Gryffindor would give him a chance, he might be able to explain. This was where all his planning failed. He wasn't sure what to explain. Should he start by trying to begin a friendship with the other boy, or should he just tell him what was happening? He wasn't even sure if he'd be able to manage a friendship. Such close contact without any intimacy would be a horrible strain on his willpower.

Deciding that he would take things one step at a time, he wrote a note asking Harry to meet him after class.

A nondescript school owl fluttered outside Harry's dorm room window. He pulled the note from its leg, while it sat on his desk waiting for a reply. His eyes widened when he saw who the note was from.

_Harry, _

_I'd like it if we could meet sometime after class today. I know you don't have any reason to trust me, but I promise it is all on the level. Pick any location you want, just please come alone. _

_Draco_

Was it some kind of trick he wondered? It didn't seem to be. Hell, Malfoy had even called him by name, and said please. He had been hoping for some sort of reconciliation between them. Ever since that day in Transfiguration his animosity for the blonde had dropped lower and lower. He found himself biting his tongue when Ron made nasty comments about the Slytherin so he wouldn't tell his friend to shut up. Ron would never understand. Harry wasn't willing to admit it, even to himself, but he was finding the Slytherin quite attractive.

He saw that the owl was still waiting on his desk, so he grabbed a parchment and scribbled…

_Across from the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy at six o'clock_

Draco grabbed the note from the owl almost before it had landed. Reading it quickly, he smiled, and hope flared inside him for the first time in months.

At six o'clock Draco found himself pacing back and forth on the sixth floor, waiting for Harry to arrive. He ran up the stairs five minutes late, and completely disheveled.

"Sorry, I'm late. Ron wanted to talk to me, and I couldn't get away." He had been listening to his best friend ramble on about quidditch strategies when he realized that he was late for the meeting. Looking at Draco, Harry noticed that the blonde looked anxious and upset. His face was paler than usual, and his arms were wrapped tightly across his abdomen.

Draco nodded, as his throat closed. He could feel his palms starting to sweat, and he wiped them quickly on his trousers. "Where are we going?" he asked, "I'm not really comfortable talking about this in the middle of the hallway."

"One sec," Harry said as he paced back and forth in front of the wall. After the third pass a door appeared in front of him. Pushing it open he motioned for Malfoy to enter.

The room was decorated in white and blue, and a fire blazed cheerily along one wall. Two comfortable chairs and one sofa were arranged neatly around a lovely coffee table.

"What did you want Malfoy?" asked Harry slowly, half expecting the Slytherin to say something rude in response.

"I…um..." Draco stuttered, and he could feel his hands shaking. He took a deep breath to calm himself but it wasn't helping. He could feel his magic was reacting to Harry's presence. He stared at the brunette with quiet intensity, and tried to think of a way to respond.

Harry watched him, concerned. This wasn't normal Malfoy behavior. Combined with everything else that had happened during the year, he was really starting to worry about the boy. Ignoring the fact that this was Malfoy he was worried about, he looked up at the blonde openly, and waited for him to answer the question.

As if he was controlled by some invisible force Draco walked forward, and wrapped his arms around Harry. Pulling him even closer he registered the surprise in the Gryffindor's eyes, but ignored it. Desperately he slammed his lips down onto Harry's. After a moment of what seemed to be shock Harry began kissing him back. Pressing himself fully against the brunette he knew that this is what he had been made for. His magic was humming joyfully as it wrapped itself around them both.

Then with a gasp, Harry shoved him away. "What the hell was that Malfoy?" he asked. He couldn't deny that it was a really good kiss, but he couldn't think why his enemy of five years would want to do something like that.

"I…" he started, and realized that he was close to tears. Harry must have seen it also because he led Draco over to the sofa, and sat down beside him.

"Explain," he said, and waited.

"Do you know any of my family history?" Draco asked, not sure how to explain what had happened to him. Harry shook his head. "At one point, someone in the Black family tree married a veela. My father, rather predictably, flipped and refused to let me know anything about it. Actually, I'm surprised that he didn't leave my mother as soon as he found out, except that it just isn't done in pureblood society. Anyway, this year some unusual things began to happen to me. I didn't understand what was happening, but when I mentioned them over Christmas my mother secretly told me everything."

"This is all connected with the problems you were having when people touched you isn't it?" asked Harry, and Draco nodded with a quiet sigh. "I can touch you though," he said musingly, and then something else occurred to him. "There's something special about me isn't there?"

Draco nodded once more, and he was gripping his hands together so tightly his knuckles were white, and his nails were digging into his palms. This was where his mate would reject him. He didn't really expect anything else, but he had to tell Harry everything anyway. With a choked voice he said, "My veela genes showed up by all of a sudden deciding I needed a mate. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but it's supposed to be whoever's magic is compatible with mine." Draco hung his head, and let Harry process the information.

"Me?" Harry whispered and pointed to himself.

"Yes," said Draco so quietly that Harry almost didn't catch it. "Please go now if you don't want me. Go quickly, and don't look back."

Harry looked at the blonde. He found that he wasn't nearly as surprised as he should be. That one day before the holidays he had felt his magic reacting to Draco as well. . Ever since then his feelings had softened considerably toward the Slytherin. Harry realized that he cared, he cared a lot. Next to him, the blonde's shoulders were visibly trembling, and he started to leave. Ron and Hermione would be angry, but in that moment Harry knew exactly what he wanted. He leaned forward, and kissed Draco softly. He almost laughed at the look of surprise on the blonde's face.

"What do I need to do?" he asked. He was pretty sure that this would be for life, but his instincts were pressing him forward with certainty. They had never been wrong before, and he wasn't going to try second guessing them now.

Draco tensed. "What?" he asked. Maybe he had misheard. It couldn't possibly be true.

Harry touched him gently, tentatively. The proud, assertive boy he knew, was looking so unsure. Understandable, he thought, since this was life or death for him. "What do I need to do?" he repeated. "I don't know what's involved in being your mate."

"Don't," he whispered, shoving himself away from Harry. "Don't touch me. I can't control it. I can't control myself when you do that."

Harry placed one hand softly under his chin, and lifted it so Draco would look at him. "Tell me, so I can help."

The Slytherin panicked and ran. He backed himself into the furthest corner of the room, afraid to let himself hope that this might work. "Help?!" he yelled. "Help? Idiotic Gryffindork, when will you learn that you can't save everyone? Don't you understand? This would be forever! You'd be stuck with me forever! You don't even like me, let alone love me! What insane idea is going through your head that makes you think bonding with someone you despise is a good idea?"

"Well," said Harry, slowly making his way over to the other boy. "You're right, I don't love you. But I don't hate you either. I know that I do care about you. Give me a chance, and I think I could learn to love you. Something deep inside me says that forever with you might not be so bad."

"My father…" began Draco, hoping to warn him away.

"I have a dark lord out for my blood, and you're worried about your father?" Harry laughed, and closed the distance between them.

Let's hear it for Gryffindor bravery, thought Harry as he pulled the blonde against him, and ran his tongue over his bottom lip.

"Take me," whispered Draco, giving himself over fully to his mate.

A bed appeared over in the corner. Harry picked up the smaller boy and carried him over. He took his time removing their clothes, and by the time he was done they were both panting with desire. Moving himself between Draco's legs he leaned over the blonde, and kissed him softly. One hand slid down to caress his hip, as the other gently threaded through soft light hair.

Draco wanted more, and he opened his mouth, sucking gently on Harry's bottom lip. When Harry responded he let his tongue taste the inside of his mate's mouth. Arching up, he pulled the brunette tight against him, and his hands roamed hungrily over his body.

Harry moved away and began kissing his way down his mate's body. While giving a lick here, and a suck there, he prepared his lover gently with the lube the room had graciously provided. Harry looked down at Draco's beautiful body, his head thrown back with desire, and his breath coming in soft pants. Harry knew without a doubt that this was where he was meant to be. Mine, he thought to himself. Without a single regret, he slid home.

Draco felt his magic thrust forward into Harry, as the brunette made them one. Harry's magic responded in turn, and slammed into Draco full force. Arching up he screamed from the amount of power rushing through them. They found their release simultaneously calling each others' name.

"Oh, my God," Draco whispered.

Harry lay down next to him, barely registering that tears of joy were running down his face. "Mine," he whispered happier than he had ever been in his life. "Mine." Before he knew it he was fast asleep.

"I love you, Harry," whispered Draco when the other boy's breathing evened out. Then he wrapped himself around his mate, and dozed off as well.

Harry woke with a bit of a shock, stiffening and looking around. For a moment, he hadn't realized where he was. He relaxed as the memories from last night came back to him.

Draco looked at his face in concern. He had woken up when his mate had sat up so rapidly. "You're not sorry are you?" he asked worriedly. "B-because there's nothing I can do anymore." He looked down at his hands. Harry had made such a quick decision last night. He had every cause to regret it. His hands trembled. What would happen if he didn't want him?

Harry pulled Draco onto his lap. He was just as beautiful nude as he was clothed. Kissing him gently on the forehead he said, "I'm not sorry. I was surprised because I forgot where we were." Harry kissed him once more, this time on the lips. "Nothing has ever felt as right as being here with you."

"I'm just…" Draco trailed off. "You decided so quickly yesterday. I wanted to be sure you hadn't changed your mind."

"I guess even Slytherin Ice Princes need reassurance sometimes," teased Harry.

"It's been a rough year," grumbled Draco. "What are we going to say about us?" he asked, wondering how to handle the rest of the students.

"Whatever you decide is fine with me," said Harry. "But right now I could really use a shower. I wonder if the room saw fit to give us a bathroom." Harry walked toward a door across from the bed.

"Want company?" asked Draco mischievously, and Harry smiled as the other boy ran over to him.

Their shower didn't include much more than a few kisses and caresses as they soaped and rinsed themselves clean. They didn't have much time before breakfast, and both of them were hungry. Wincing, Draco started dressing in the clothes he wore yesterday. A cleansing charm just didn't cut it, he thought.

"Wait," said Harry seeing the look on the blonde's face. He was such a vain git, thought Harry with amusement. Draco straightened, wearing just his boxers and raised an eyebrow. "Dobby," called Harry, and a house elf appeared in front of him. Draco was surprised to see the small creature throw itself against Harry and begin hugging his leg.

"Good to see you too, Dobby," smiled Harry. "Do you think you could get us some clean clothes from our dorms?"

The elf nodded so hard, Draco thought its head would fall off. With a burst of adulation for the Great Harry Potter it disappeared. Reappearing shortly after, it handed them each some clean clothing. Harry thanked the creature, and it disappeared after more adulation.

Harry saw the look on his face and asked, "What?"

"That's a pretty strange house elf," he finally said.

"He is that. He's always liked me since I freed him from your father. Dumbledore pays him wages now."

Draco just shook his head in disbelief.

"I don't want to hide," Draco said out of the blue. "I want everyone to know how I feel about you."

Harry nodded. "Ok, as long as you know that you'll be putting yourself in danger. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I understand, but it doesn't change my mind."

Harry smiled at his mate, and held out a hand. "Let's go then."

--

**To be continued…**

**Loved it? Hated it? Please Review!**

--


	3. Chapter 3

Obligatory Veela Fic

Obligatory Veela Fic

**Summary: **Here is my obligatory veela fic since all hp/dm authors must write one as a rite of passage. ;) Draco doesn't know he's a veela! Angry Ron! Semi-OOTP compliant Harry/Draco Slash

**Disclaimer: **All these lovely characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I just use them for my evil purposes.

When they entered the Great Hall everyone's eyes turned toward them.

"Do you think it's because we're late?" Harry whispered with a nervous laugh. He was a bit tense. Ron was going to be really angry, and he had no idea how to explain the relationship with Draco without making it sound like the blonde had forced him. Hermione on the other hand, would at least put off judgment until she had heard the whole story.

Draco leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Relax love," he said and gave Harry a soft kiss on the cheek. Harry flushed with pleasure and smiled.

Over at the Gryffindor table Ron's fork clattered loudly to his plate. Storming over he growled, "You traitor!" and punched Harry in the face.

Harry held up a hand to try and stop the blood flowing from his nose. Pain filled his eyes, and it had nothing to do with his nose, that he thought might be broken. Draco had his wand pointed at his best friend with an icy glare that dared him to try anything else. Harry knew that the only reason Ron wasn't lying on the floor covered in boils, or worse was because he would be hurt by it.

Ron stalked out through the doors aiming a glare toward them both. When Harry turned he saw Hermione standing in front of them. She fixed his nose with a quick spell, and then cleaned up all the blood on his robes.

"I'll go talk to him Harry, but you know how he is. It'll take him some time to calm down. You know that he feels you betrayed him by associating with Malfoy. Their families have hated each other for centuries." She gave him a slight smile. "I can't wait to hear how this all came about."

She went to follow Ron upstairs when Harry grabbed her wrist. "Hermione, I'd like you to meet my mate, Draco Malfoy." Hermione's eyebrows shot up at this. "Draco, my best friend Hermione."

"Pleased to meet you Hermione," Draco said graciously. "Please call me Draco." He paused for a moment. "I'd really like to start over if possible. I know you don't have any reason to trust me, but maybe we can talk later," he said hopefully.

She nodded, and went off to find Ron.

The rest of the Great Hall had been leaning forward as closely as possible so they could hear the conversation between them. Harry wouldn't have been at all surprised to see some extendable ears in the area. Whispers began all around them. Harry Potter was friends with Draco Malfoy? When had that happened? And he was actually nice to Hermione Granger.

"Want to have breakfast with me?" Harry asked, noticing the curious looks aimed at him from the Gryffindor table.

"Ok," said Draco a bit nervously.

Harry leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Don't worry I'll protect you." He gave a low laugh as Draco poked him in the side.

The whispers around them became even louder when they saw the Slytherin sit down at the Gryffindor table.

Draco saw Pansy and Blaise walking over to him.

"What's going on Dray? Why are you sitting with these Gryffindorks?" Draco looked over at Harry, who nodded, understanding the unasked question. The rest of the table stared at them in confusion as the blonde motioned for his housemates to sit down. Seamus opened his mouth to complain when Harry glared, daring him to say a word.

"Ok, well I'm sure you're wondering how this all happened," started Draco who received a look that said 'duh' from Pansy. "It turns out that someone in the Black family tree was a veela. The beginning of this year some of the symptoms began to show up. I didn't have any idea what was happening until I went home for Christmas when some things were made painfully clear."

Pansy and Blaise stared as the implications were made perfectly clear. Seamus was still looking confused, while Ginny and Neville stared at Harry in shock.

"Harry…" said Ginny. "Tell me you didn't…" She couldn't even complete the thought. It was too awful to contemplate.

Harry looked over at her completely seriously. "I did, Gin."

"No…" she whispered. "He tricked you somehow. You do know that you'll be stuck with that bastard forever. I bet he didn't tell you that did he?"

"He did tell me, and don't call him a bastard," he said, trying to remain calm. "He's my mate, and I'm his, and nothing will change that."

"But Harry," said Neville speaking up for the first time. "We all know what Malfoy's like. He'll hurt you the first chance he gets. How do you know this isn't some plot to bring you to You Know Who?"

Pansy and Blaise watched this all silently waiting for it to play out. They had watched as their friend in a desperate fight to remain strong over the past few months, and they were glad to finally see him happy. Even if it did mean associating with Gryffindorks.

Draco placed a comforting hand on his mate's leg.

"Ginny, Neville, It's not some plot, it's not imperious, and it's not a trick. It's the real thing. I promise you that he's not the bastard you think he is." Harry put a hand on his chest. "I can feel him right here inside me. There are no more secrets." Harry tried to explain that after last night he _knew _his mate. Possibly, even better than Draco's friends did. Fighting for the right words he decided that there were none, and he said, "Please, just try to get to know him."

"I still don't understand," said Seamus.

The comment made light snickers flow across the table.

Then Draco lifted his head, and looked everyone in the eye, seriously. "Look," he said. "I know what you think about me, and I deserve it. I'm not asking you to like me. I'm just asking that you don't take this out on Harry. He's a great guy, and deserves your support. It's not just anyone that could put aside years of hate and anger to help the enemy."

Harry looked at him, shaking his head vigorously. "No Draco, it's not like that and you know it. I cared about you even before the holidays. When you crashed into me in Transfigurations that day I could see the pain and fear in your eyes, and I wanted to help. That day I started to see how much of the last few years had been an act. You don't want to go back to your father do you?"

"No," said Draco with a smile. "But you already knew that didn't you?"

Harry smiled back and placed a soft kiss on his mate's lips.

At that, all the girls sighed and started talking about enemies who fell in love, and how romantic it all was, just like Romeo and Juliet.

They all started to eat breakfast. Harry worried about what Ron would say, and pushed his eggs around on his plate. He would probably be even angrier that the whole house had found out before he did. Not my fault if he ran out of here, grumbled Harry to his eggs.

"Harry, that plate is going to catch on fire if you keep glaring at it like that," said Draco from next to him. "Why don't we go find Ron?"

Harry nodded and made his way; to the doors. They walked up to the Gryffindor common room, assuming that it was the most likely place for Ron to be. Harry said the password and they walked in together when it opened.

Ron was sitting in front of the fire, and turned when he heard the portrait open. Getting up he walked over to them, wand drawn and ready to hex Draco. Harry quickly cast Expelliarmus and put Ron in a body bind.

Before either of them could say anything Hermione walked down the stairs from the girls' dorm.

"Harry, this probably isn't the best way to go about things," she said looking at the way Ron was frozen.

"You're right," he said, and released the spell, only to replace it with Incarcerous which tied him to his chair. "Better?" he asked. "I won't have him hexing or hitting either me or Draco while I explain this, Mione."

She nodded reluctantly.

Harry explained the whole situation once more. Ron, predictably enough began yelling about imperious, and love spells, and how he must be under Draco's power, because he'd never agree to sleep with him otherwise.

"You did this," Ron hissed at Draco. "You bastard."

"Actually, Ron, You did this," said Harry, and explained. "Remember that day when you shoved Draco into my arms, trying to hurt him? That's when I started to realize that this is what I wanted."

Hermione grabbed her things so she'd have enough time to run to the library before class. She let him know that she was going to research veelas for him so that he'd know what he was getting into.

Ron refused to forgive him, and he was still shouting angrily when they left. Harry cancelled the binding spell as he walked out the door. Draco rubbed his back, insisting that 'the weasel' would come around eventually. Harry hoped that it was true.

"Harry," said Draco later that day. "I've been meaning to talk to you about my mother."

"We have to get her out of there don't we?" asked Harry.

"Yes and soon. I'm worried about her, and the faster the rumors about us spread the more danger she'll be in."

"Let's go to Dumbledore," Harry said, grabbing his hand. He pulled his boyfriend toward the gargoyle heading up to the headmaster's office.

Unfortunately they didn't get quite that far. They made it to the corridor outside the Great Hall when they ran into Draco's father.

"My dear son," said Lucius silkily. "I had heard you were consorting with the enemy, but I could hardly believe it. Rumors spread so quickly these days. I'm ashamed to see that it's actually true."

"Father…" said Draco trying to head off a confrontation.

"Don't even try to explain yourself Draco. I'm holding your mother at the house. She betrayed me when she told you about your heritage against my orders. If you and your paramour," Lucius sneered the word. "Don't come with me then she will die."

"What do you want from us?" asked Draco lifting his chin, and waiting for an answer. He would need to weight his options before he decided on the best way to rescue his mother.

"Why, Mr. Potter here will go to the Dark Lord, and as for you, I don't particularly care what you do with yourself. You always were an embarrassment to our family name."

The blonde shook his head sadly. He knew his father was aware he'd die without his mate. "We won't go with you," he said, staring his father right in the eye.

"I thought you might feel that way, Draco," his father said. He grabbed Harry's wrist and when Draco grabbed his arm to pull him away Lucius activated a portkey.

Harry winced as he hit the ground with Draco on top of him. "I hate portkey travel," he said.

Draco started to get up when he found himself being grabbed by the back of his robes and yanked upright. Looking back over his shoulder he saw a dark haired man with a thick mustache standing behind him.

"MacNair" he said with a sneer. "I should have expected to see you here doing the Dark Lord's dirty work."

The Death Eater raised his wand, and held it against Draco's neck. "Keep talking. The more you have to say, the longer it'll take before your little lover dies. How much do you want to hear him scream, traitor?"

Lucius cast a body bind on Harry and took his wand while MacNair handed over Draco's. Looking at each other they wordlessly swore that they would find a way out of this alive together. Then they found themselves being led to the dungeons in Malfoy Manor at wandpoint.

"Home sweet home?" said Harry wryly, after they had been thrown in a cell.

"Yeah, it brings back all sorts of fond memories," replied Draco sarcastically. "Like Crucio."

"He didn't…" gasped the brunette, who had assumed his mate's home life was bad, but had never expected this.

Draco nodded, and Harry pulled him forward into his arms. They sat there together, waiting for whatever would come next. After an hour Harry got up and started pacing back and forth across the cell.

"Do you have any ideas?" he asked. "They must be getting Voldemort. I don't get that man. One Avada Kedavra through the bars and he'd kill me, but nooo he wants to play." He turned to Draco. "Do you know where they'd be keeping your mother?"

"My father probably has her locked in her rooms. One of the house elves would be able to get me in, unless my father specifically ordered otherwise, but they wouldn't be willing to apparate us out."

"House elves can do that?" asked Harry surprised.

"Of course," said Draco in a tone that said everyone should know something so simple. "They know better than to free a prisoner of my father's though. He'd give them clothes so quickly that they wouldn't know what hit them."

"Will the wards let Dobby in?"

"Dobby?" asked the blonde. "That weird house elf from Hogwarts?"

Harry nodded. "He used to belong to your father."

Draco looked at his mate hopefully. "They might."

"Ok, well this is what we'll do then," began Harry. "Assuming you can get away, and I think you should be able to since they mainly want me, go find your mother and call for Dobby. He should be able to apparate the two of you back to Hogwarts. You need to tell Dumbledore where I am as soon as you can."

Draco stood there frowning at him.

"What?"

"If you think for one minute that I'm leaving you here on your own then you're out of your mind." He glared at the Gryffindor.

"Please?" begged Harry. "I'll feel much better if I know you're safe."

"Fine," grouched Draco, who had no intention of keeping such a promise.

Silence fell as they thought about what they planned to do. Unconsciously Harry moved forward into Draco's arms for comfort. He knew that whatever was coming next would probably hurt a lot.

"Isn't that sweet…" sneered a voice from outside the cell. "It's my little nephew and his slut."

"Bellatrix," hissed Harry, and moved forward. Draco held him back with a shake of his head, and the Gryffindor stopped. The blonde had a look on his face between hatred and disgust. Harry had never seen his mate look so angry. He stood there tensely making sure he was in front of his mate.

"You abomination," spat Draco. "You killed your mate before your bonding. No wonder you're insane."

Harry gasped as the horror of that statement hit him. Before he could say anything else MacNair joined them.

"The Dark Lord is ready for them now," he said.

Bellatrix grabbed Draco, who was doing his best to twist away from her. With a flick of her wand she stunned him, and then floated him out of the dungeons with mobilocorpus.

Harry went with MacNair without a fight, knowing it would be better to save his strength. The Death Eater held his arm so tightly he knew there would be bruises there tomorrow if he lived that long.

The two of them were brought to the main hall. All of Voldemort's Death Eaters were there, with him and Lucius standing up front. Harry was forced to kneel in front of him. The pain in his scar was making it difficult to concentrate.

Voldemort looked up and asked, "Did you want me to grant your son an easy death, Lucius?"

He looked at Draco, who was standing off to the side, and still trying to get away from Bellatrix and said, "You needn't. He's always been weak. His mother's tainted blood made him that way."

"Very well," said Voldemort, and he appeared to be thinking. "I've heard that veelas will live in perpetual anguish once their mate is killed, and then die themselves. You have mated with Dumbledore's worthless hero, haven't you Draco?" he looked up into his eyes. "Ah, I see that you have. Well, I guess we'll find out what happens when he dies, won't we?" Voldemort looked much too pleased by that. "Bella, let him go. He can't get away, and we can watch him suffer later."

"But my Lord…"

Voldemort looked at her through his slitted red eyes, and she cowered, releasing Draco immediately. He looked at Harry, who was still kneeling at his feet, held tightly by MacNair. He said, "Your lover shouldn't be the only one to suffer though should he?" And with that he cast Crucio.

When Bellatrix released him, Draco had slowly, but surely made his way to the back of the room by the door. Freezing at the sound of his mate's scream he watched in horror as the darker haired boy writhed on the floor. Tearing his eyes away, he remembered that he had a mission to accomplish. He turned the knob on the door behind him with a soft click. Cringing he realized that Harry's screams covered any noise it might have made.

Once outside the room he found the Mansion to be empty. Everyone must be in that one room, he thought. Running upstairs at full speed he stood panting at the door to his mother's rooms. He gave the handle a yank, but found it to be locked as expected. His father still had his wand in his possession, so he called a house elf to him.

"Bippy," he said with a snap of his fingers.

"Yes master?" she asked appearing beside him.

"I'd like to visit my mother. Can you open the door for me?"

The house elf grabbed her ears and nodded vigorously. "Oh yes Master Draco, but Mistress Narcissa is not being allowed out of her rooms."

Draco looked down at the small elf by his knee. "Don't worry; I won't take her out of her rooms," he said. Someone else will, he thought and smirked.

His mother was sitting on the end of her bed, looking pale and drawn.

"Mother!" Draco cried out as he ran into the room, and hugged her. "He didn't hurt you did he?"

"No he didn't," she said, trying to calm the worry in his eyes. Hers held the same concern as she asked, "Why are you here? You should be in school."

"It's a long story, but I don't have the time for it now. You need to get to Hogwarts."

"I can't get out of the room, Draco." said Narcissa sadly.

"I have an idea," he said, and snapped his fingers. "Dobby!"

A pop announced the appearance of a house elf behind them. The creature looked at them with a mixture of surprise and distress. "Master and Mistress is not supposed to be summoning Dobby. Dobby is a free elf now. He is working for Hogwarts, and is getting paid! You is bad wizards."

Draco was trying to get Dobby to relax. The elf had begun banging his head against the bedpost after his statement. "Wait, Dobby, don't do that. Listen to me." Finally he had to pry him away and hold him still. "Dobby, I summoned you because I'm mated to Harry Potter, and a request from me is the same as a request from him. Now what I want to know is, can you apparate my mother back to Hogwarts from here?"

"You is mated to the Great Harry Potter, Master Draco sir?" One sock slipped from the elf's ear as he looked at the blonde boy with large eyes. "Dobby can do as Master Draco said. The wards are still keyed for Dobby. Master Lucius never changed them."

"What about you Draco?" asked his mother with concern.

"I have to go help Harry." Draco leaned over and gave his mother a kiss. "Hurry Dobby and thank you."

Harry clenched his teeth as the Crucio hit. You never got used to the pain, he thought. When it got to be too much he screamed, writhing on the floor. Voldemort paused, no doubt to prolong the pain, Harry assumed He watched through pain filled eyes as Draco slid along the wall behind the Death Eaters, and made his way to the door. Then the curse hit him once again.

"You're not much for originality, eh Tom?" Harry asked in short gasping breaths after Voldemort lifted the Crucio.

"I'm sure we can manage something just for the Boy Who Lived," hissed Voldemort, and nodded to Crabbe.

Crabbed walked over and lifted him by the back of his robes. Harry's legs didn't want to hold his weight, so the Death Eater kept a grip on him as he punched him in the stomach. Harry barely kept himself from screaming once more as he felt something crack. Broken rib, he thought. A second punch caught him in the mouth, and he tasted blood. Crabbe dropped him back on the floor, and he did his best to land on his uninjured side.

"Low'rin' y'self to ph'sical vi'lence?" Harry slurred through the cuts on his lips and tongue. "H'w comm'n."

"Just keep talking boy," sneered Lucius. "And we'll bury you in that hole you're digging for yourself."

"Lucius why don't you see what he can survive from the end of a wand. Make sure he survives. His death is mine."

Lucius nodded, and raised his wand. He cast a curse that blistered all the skin on Harry's back. Next time, no comments on originality, he thought as he screamed, choking on the blood in his mouth.

Draco ran back downstairs even faster than he had gone up. Everyone was still in that one room, and there wasn't even a lookout posted. Careless, thought Draco, but whoever said Death Eaters were smart? He slid back into the room. Everyone was so captivated by what was happening in the front of the room that no one way watching the door. By now Harry was a crumpled bloody heap on the floor. His father and Voldemort stood to each side of him, while the remaining Death Eaters were watching avidly in front of them.

His father was speaking, but Draco wasn't listening to the words. He moved toward the front of the room as quickly as he could. He barely managed to keep himself in check when he heard his father cast the burning curse. Swearing mentally for reacting like an idiotic Gryffindor, he pulled himself together.

The dark room was very helpful for sneaking, and before anyone realized he was standing behind his father. Pulling his wand from the older man's pocket he pointed it at his neck.

"Let Harry go, or I'll kill your right hand man Voldemort," he threatened. "You know I can do it, after all you taught me the curses yourself. Didn't you _father?"_ he sneered the last word in disgust.

"Don't be stupid boy," Voldemort hissed furiously. "Do you think I care that much if he lives or dies?"

Without another word he cast the Avada Kedavra at Lucius who slumped to the floor dead. Draco dodged the next curse, and slid behind Bellatrix, who happened to be the nearest. It couldn't have worked out better, he thought.

"Have you learned nothing?" Voldemort said and pointed his wand once more.

In the blink of an eye Bellatrix lay dead at Draco's feet, and he was ducking another curse. It flew past and hit a random Death Eater. He wasn't sure who, but didn't really care either. By this time the remaining people gathered in the room were running for the door.

Draco kept moving, wondering how long he could keep this up. He was covered in sweat and breathing hard.

Next to Voldemort, Harry registered that the pain had stopped. Lifting his head he saw a blurry image of what was happening. Seeing his mate in danger he dragged himself over to Lucius's body and pulled his own wand from the loose robes. With the last of his strength, he cast stupefy at Voldemort, and hoped it would connect since he was distracted.

Draco sighed when a red beam of light hit the Dark Lord's body and he collapsed. Casting incarcerous just to be sure, he ran over to Harry, who was unconscious and draped over his father's body.

He was struggling to lift Harry, and keep his wounds from reopening when Dobby popped into the room.

"Mistress Narcissa sent Dobby back to make sure Master Draco was alright."

The blonde sighed in relief. "Dobby, can you get me and Harry to the hospital wing at Hogwarts as soon as possible?"

"Oh yes, Master Draco Sir." Dobby grabbed both of their hands, and apparated. Harry hit the floor with a thud that made Draco cringe. Quickly casting mobilocorpus, he placed him face down on a bed while yelling for the nurse.

"Help! Madame Pomfrey! Hurry! Now!"

She came running into the room and gasped when she saw the state Harry was in. Casting one healing spell after another, she only paused to ask Draco questions about the spells that had been used.

Noticing that the house elf was still standing there, Draco asked him to fetch Dumbledore immediately. The headmaster came running into the hospital wing, his snitch covered robes flying behind him.

"What happened?" he asked.

"We sort of caught Voldemort," said Draco starting with the most important part of the story.

"Sort of?" asked Dumbledore, his twinkling eyes registered surprise.

"Harry stunned him, and then I cast incarcerous, but he's still lying on the floor at Malfoy Manor. I wasn't sure if we could bring him through the wards, and Harry was more important."

The headmaster gathered some Aurors to go check out the Manor, while he got the rest of the story from Draco. He explained, sitting on the nearest cot next to Harry, so that he could keep his mate in sight. Dumbledore nodded, and then suggested he lie down and get some rest, after assuring the boy that his mother was fine.

The Aurors went to the Manor, but didn't find anything. One of the Death Eaters must have come back to free him. Not the brightest thing to do thought Draco, especially after he had cast AK's at them randomly, but then again no one ever said that Death Eaters were smart.

No amount of begging or pleading could get Draco to leave Harry's side. His mother visited often, along with Hermione, but Ron still refused to be near either one of them. Hermione was doing her best with him, but Draco worried that his mate would be hurt. His mother was happy about the whole situation. Lucius's death left her free, and she was proud of the man her son had become.

After spending a day and a half either unconscious or asleep, Harry woke with a groan, finding that his whole body hurt. Opening his eyes, he found Draco sitting a chair next to the bed, and holding his hand. Tightening his fingers around his mate's hand he smiled when the blonde jumped at the movement. Smiling back he leaned over and gently kissed Harry's forehead. Then he moved down and placed a soft kiss on Harry's lips.

"I was so scared, love," he said. "You were bleeding all over the place. You could have died. I'm so sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" asked Harry whose lips were still a bit bruised from being struck.

"I should have known better and kept our relationship secret. Then my father wouldn't have found out, and he wouldn't have tried to bring you to You Know Who."

"Draco," said Harry, who was rubbing the back of his mate's hand gently with his thumb. "I didn't want us to keep everything secret either. Don't kid yourself by thinking you're to blame. Voldemort's been trying to catch me one way or another since I was eleven. Your father was just another tool in his belt."

"Ok," said Draco, and leaned over to kiss Harry once more, just to make sure that his mate was real.

"I'm sorry about your father," said Harry softly. "He is dead isn't he?"

"Yes," Draco nodded. "Don't be sorry. I'm not. You can feel proud that you managed to bleed all over one of his most expensive set of robes. He would have been mortified."

Harry started to laugh, which brought on a fit of coughing. Madame Pomfrey came running in, and started to scold them both, and she handed the dark haired boy a healing potion from the bedside table.

"…You shouldn't be exerting yourself like that Mr. Potter. That rib gave you a good poke in your lung. Lie down and rest, or I'll give you a dreamless sleep potion." She turned to look at Draco. "And you… Make sure you don't disturb him or I'll kick you out of here so fast it'll make your head spin."

"I stupefied Voldemort didn't I?" asked Harry when she had left.

"Yes, and I cast incarcerous after that, but by the time the Aurors got there he had freed himself, and was gone."

"What about your mother?"

"She's fine too, thanks to your brilliant plan. She's been visiting you as well, you know."

Harry frowned at Draco. "I believe my brilliant plan had you leaving when she did. What happened with that?"

Draco looked at Harry, completely unrepentant. "You didn't think I'd actually go did you? You would have died on your own, and you know it."

"You could have died too. I couldn't bear it if that happened. I love you."

Draco blinked at hearing those words come from his mate's mouth. "You do?"

Harry thought for a moment, realizing what he had just said, and nodded. "Without a doubt."

"I love you too, Harry," whispered Draco softly, emotion filling his voice.

Draco brushed his lips over his mate's full pink ones. The green eyes that looked up at him were full of affection and he caressed the side of Harry's face gently with his knuckles. His thumbs moved to stroke the sides of his lover's face, and he tilted it upward to give the boy he loved another kiss that promised forever.

**The End**

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